What happens when a Sailor goes overboard??

SN Greg Wright — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 19:19:10 -0400

Going overboard is a scary thing, particularly in an ocean. I can attest to this when a small 2-man sailboat I was on flipped. Both I and the other guy (a PO1) were tossed clear, then the boat righted itself, as it was made to do. We both had life jackets and were good swimmers, so we were fine. But, on larger ships, what does the crew do when someone goes over?

If someone observes the Sailor go over (the situation with the greatest odds for survival for the poor bastard) the person is to immediately shout ‘MAN OVERBOARD TO PORT (or STARBOARD)’ as loud as possible and repeatedly until s/he hears it picked up by others. The initial person is to point, AND KEEP POINTING without ever taking their eyes off the victim for the duration of the rescue, as best they can. Next, someone will immediately throw life rings overboard. These typically have dye markers and salt-water-activated chemlights (or strobe lights) attached to them. If the victim is lucky enough to be wearing a life vest, (contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of professional sailors on large ships, Military or Civilian only wear life vests for specific evolutions) nearly all of them have whistles attached. If they were that lucky, you can be sure you’ll be hearing that.

Since most modern large ships can take significant distances to stop, even with full stop (or even reverse), it’s generally not practical to simply stop and go looking for the victim. Instead, the bridge team, upon hearing the man-overboard, will maintain the speed they’re at, and put the rudder hard over IN THE DIRECTION THE PERSON FELL overboard. (Hard over means, as far as it will go, typically 35 degrees on most ships). This accomplishes two objectives -- it kicks the stern away from the person (hopefully in time on big ships), which is important in order to lessen the likelihood of the victim being sucked into the screws, and it sets up the next required evolution: a Williamson Turn, which is a maneuver named after Naval officer John Williamson, who came up with the technique. The helmsman will hold the rudder hard over until the ship is 60 degrees off the original course, and will then swing the rudder hard over to the opposite direction. When the ship is roughly 20 degrees off the reciprocal course, the rudder is put amidship (zero degrees) and the vessel will coast to the 180 reciprocal. Slight rudder adjustments will be made to ensure that the ship arrives upwind and alongside of the victim. Life boats will then be launched to recover the victim, if all goes well.

It should be noted that on most large Navy ships that have helo’s embarked, they will likely go that route, (or both. Though I doubt a Carrier would do the Williamson. Perhaps some Navy SM’s can comment).

Response by ENS Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2016 7:21 PM

ENS Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 19:21:00 -0400

Looks like you answered the question in detail yourself. Good info, shipmate! Thanks for the share!

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Aug 4 at 2016 7:26 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 19:26:10 -0400

SN Greg Wright Well I wouldn't have known, so thanks Greg for the details on this. Great post!

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Aug 4 at 2016 7:52 PM

CSM Charles Hayden — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 19:52:58 -0400

I'm SN Greg Wright Interesting, not having been a Sailor, not being a swimmer, I had never considered the actions you describe in such detail. Who was 'Williamson'?

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Aug 4 at 2016 8:05 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:05:15 -0400

Very interesting information, SN Greg Wright. Many thanks!

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Aug 4 at 2016 8:20 PM

SSG Warren Swan — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:20:16 -0400

Great post buddy. Now I have to explain to my mom the is or was a USSLeftwich being that is her maiden name!!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2016 8:33 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:33:28 -0400

Thanks Greg. Good information, and interesting.

Response by SSgt Mark Lines made Aug 4 at 2016 10:10 PM

SSgt Mark Lines — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 22:10:52 -0400

SN Greg Wright Awesome post. Thank you for sharing and expanding my knowledge.

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Aug 4 at 2016 10:39 PM

Capt Tom Brown — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 22:39:12 -0400

We practiced this maneuver several times while I was aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). It is quite impressive, to say the least, to feel a carrier under full rudder.

The only time we had an actual man overboard incident was one night right after flight ops secured at 0000, andeven before the ship's speed was reduced from 30+ kts.
The Senior Master Chief of the embarked Admiral's staff jumped overboard. We had two destroyers in plane guard position, one about 1000-1500 yds behind us. The decision was made to forgo the Williamson Turn maneuver and let the destroyers pick him up. Lucky for everyone one destroyer was able to find and pick him up without running over him or into the other. Expert seamanship on the part of the Navy. The Chief was flown off the ship to Subic Bay for evaluation. He didn't escape the cruise however and was returned to the ship a week or so later, much to his chagrin.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 5 at 2016 12:30 AM

SN Greg Wright — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:30:24 -0400

Can someone from Rallypoint please explain to me why this perfectly valid question was moved to updates? Without so much as a notification to me? This one really chaps my ass. This is a perfectly good question. It's very frustrating because I spent a good amount of time on this one. It's discouraging, and makes me think that spending my time to post things like this is pointless.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 5 at 2016 9:50 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 09:50:40 -0400

I went through combat water survival training as a cadet at West Point in the late 1970s SN Greg Wright. We learned how to fall safely from a height into the water by crossing arms at the chest and legs at the ankles.
The most useful thing we learned was to take your trousers off [OD green at that time] then "tie" the ends of the legs and then while bobbing in the water bring the pants over your head quickly to fill with air and then use the pants a flotation device. This was useful in limited visibility operations of if the ship was sunk and you were going to be in the water for some time.
FYI in case you didn't know LTC Stephen C. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Capt Christopher Mueller Capt Seid Waddell CW5 Private RallyPoint Member CSM Charles Hayden SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Private RallyPoint Member SGT Private RallyPoint Member SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT Forrest Stewart SGT John " Mac " McConnell SGT Robert Hawks SGT Robert George SrA Christopher Wright Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM

Response by SSgt Dan Montague made Aug 5 at 2016 10:03 AM

SSgt Dan Montague — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 10:03:24 -0400

We had 3 jump overboard on our 8 month float. All survived with no injuries.
One in particular jumped from the 03 deck off of a LSD. We were on the smoke deck and saw him drop by us. When he hit the water we looked over and someone just said "damn that must have hurt"
It took us a min to realize what just happened.
We he was pulled out he was quoted saying "half way down I realized this was a bad idea"
This guy was lucky. We were moving 10-15 knots and he managed to stay clear of the port screw.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 5 at 2016 11:31 AM

PO1 John Miller — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 11:31:22 -0400

Surprisingly over the course of a 20 year career I can only recall one man overboard. USS Nimitz during flight ops. Guy was working the flight deck so luckily he had a float coat on. He was relatively new and wasn't watching what he was doing and backed off the flight deck. Luckily we recovered him and he was none the worse for wear, save a salt water bath.

Response by PO2 Mark Saffell made Aug 5 at 2016 12:20 PM

PO2 Mark Saffell — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 12:20:42 -0400

Except on an Aircraft carrier. If flight ops are going on the helo or the DD's perform the rescue. If no flight ops are going on we slam the ship in reverse and still the Helo's perform the rescue or one of the escort ships. Carriers like The Enterprise dont like those hard turns so much.

Response by PO2 Mark Saffell made Aug 5 at 2016 12:27 PM

PO2 Mark Saffell — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 12:27:23 -0400

We had two jet jockies punch out 50 miles aft of the ship at 0200 half way between The PI and Hawaii due to a fire on the A6. Talk about making certain things draw up...wow.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2016 2:27 PM

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:27:08 -0400

Not so sure, Greg, what the purpose is when posting a question, like you did, that you then proceed to offer up an answer to it which is so complete that the answer itself begs the question: why did you ask in the first place??? There seems to be quite a lot of that on RP. BTW, your last sentence...don't ask a Signalman (SM) about anything for which a Quartemaster (QM) is the undisputed expert!!! And there have been no SMs since 2003 when the rate was disestablished and existing SMs were absorbed into newly created Operational rates.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Aug 5 at 2016 2:43 PM

LTC Paul Labrador — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:43:32 -0400

And this is why I joined the Army. I'd rather get lost in the woods than lost at sea.....

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Aug 5 at 2016 3:21 PM

Capt Seid Waddell — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:21:59 -0400

Interesting. With aircraft it is 90°/270° turns to reverse course. I wonder why it is different for ships; to intercept the previous course sooner?

Response by PO3 Sherry Thornburg made Aug 5 at 2016 10:43 PM

PO3 Sherry Thornburg — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 22:43:00 -0400

There was a page in one of my dad's ship year books dedicated to a sailor who disappeared during his flight deck watch and was never found. Biggest problem is that if you aren't noticed missing quickly, you are fish food. (Another sea sailor's words, not mine)

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Sep 13 at 2016 1:08 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 01:08:59 -0400

Your worst nightmare, We practice and practice Man Overboard for a damn good reason. It is so easy and hopefully the lookouts are doing their job otherwise your suitability odds suck. I love diving, I love swimming but I've seen some of our Kitchen Trash Brown Paper Bags hit the water and just get mauled by sealife. Disturbing. I love he Sea, I love he Ocean but I am plenty aware of how treacherous it is.

Response by TSgt Joe C. made Sep 13 at 2016 2:44 AM

TSgt Joe C. — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 02:44:25 -0400

Good information SN Greg Wright.

Response by PO2 Marty Sharpe made Sep 13 at 2016 8:40 AM

PO2 Marty Sharpe — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 08:40:09 -0400

The diagram is a Williamson Turn. When done correctly the man overboard will wind up directli forward of the stem of the ship with the ship at a dead stop. I saw it done once and it is really amazing that the officer with the con can put that much ship up next to a human and not run him over.

Response by PO2 Marty Sharpe made Sep 13 at 2016 9:23 AM

PO2 Marty Sharpe — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 09:23:26 -0400

As i stated below the only time I saw the Williamson done for real was on Bon Homme Richard CVA 31. The person in the water wound up at the stem of the ship and was picked up by a helo. I was totally amazed that the OOD was that good.

Response by SFC George Smith made Sep 13 at 2016 5:16 PM

SFC George Smith — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 17:16:56 -0400

most interesting ...

Response by PO2 Rev. Frederick C. Mullis, AFI, CFM made Jun 12 at 2017 8:35 AM

PO2 Rev. Frederick C. Mullis, AFI, CFM — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 08:35:11 -0400

They get wet!

Response by MSgt Mark Bucher made Jun 12 at 2017 11:16 AM

MSgt Mark Bucher — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 11:16:44 -0400

Very cool and informative post Greg

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2017 11:39 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 23:39:57 -0400

SN Greg Wright thanks for the share shipmate. I'm reminded from my second to my last underway where on one of our Workup for the Big E someone fell overboard got it took about a little over an hour to find him because it was roughly just after midnight it sucked turns out the guy was trying to commit suicide.

Response by PO2 Marty Sharpe made Aug 26 at 2017 9:55 AM

PO2 Marty Sharpe — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 09:55:07 -0400

Has anyone here seen it done for real. I have in the Tonkin Gulf. CVA 31. The airdales got it right.

Response by PO2 Marty Sharpe made Dec 16 at 2017 9:42 AM

PO2 Marty Sharpe — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 09:42:27 -0500

BHR CVA 31 did a Williamson in the Tonkin and it worked perfectly.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 15 at 2018 4:43 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 16:43:24 -0500

Sailor gets wet